Jones + Tino On Bodyform's Bloody Brilliant New Ad

Though probably not the best accompaniment to your mid-morning cuppa, if you haven't yet seen AMV BBDO's new campaign for sanitary brand Bodyform, it's well worth a watch.

A gritty, no-holds-barred riposte to every feminine care advertising cliche, you won't spy any carefree ladies frolicking along beaches in itsy-bitsy bikinis or rollerblading in snow-white shorts in the 70-second spot. Instead, the aptly-titled Blood depicts - in sometimes graphic detail - cuts, gashes, grazes and bloodied noses sustained by amateur sportswomen, proving that 'no blood should hold women back'.  

Below, directing duo Jones + Tino tell shots about the guts, glory and copious amounts of fake blood involved in making the spot. 

What was your first reaction on seeing the script? 

Well, that we would be definitely out of our comfort zone.

Why did it appeal and did you instantly know how you were going to approach it?

We had mixed feelings when we first read it: fear and excitement. But slowly, we cleared the way to tell the story. It feels great when someone writes a script that is all about guts, blood and being fearless and thinks about you to direct it.

Our main concern was how to tell a story about women's inner strength. If men are stronger physically, women are more resilient. They can be tender and soft. But also wild and instinctive. Strong and agile. Mental and physical. Maternal and sexy. The dualities that surround women’s lives create unique power and energy. The menstrual cycle is part of a woman's inner nature and although the menstrual blood is shown in an abstract way, it's physical evidence of women's extraordinary strength. It gives them courage, will and discipline to prevail under hard conditions.

How did you go about creating the sense of dynamism, power and fearlessness? How challenging was it to get the balance between making the women seem relatable but also aspirational?

Our narrative thread is quite simple: fall, rise and overcome. The characters' sense of fearlessness and power rises as we see them surpassing the obstacles on their way even though they're in a lot of pain. They don't care. They just keep going. On top of that we add the choice of the sports, cinematography, editing and soundtrack all working together to heighten the drama.

The choice of using amateur athletes instead of professional ones was key to make these characters relatable. They are closer to the audience because they are not perfect in what they do - they fall, they hurt themselves. But at the same time they are aspirational because they're strong and never give up.

Refreshingly for this category, the product isn’t shown at all in the ad and only the tagline at the end reveals the brand connection – that must have been rewarding for you as directors…

After so many years watching demo clips with blue liquids being poured on white pads, we all know - even us men - how to use the product. It was a brave move from the client to step away a little bit from that and to start a conversation with women about what really matters.
Obviously it's not always possible to do that. You really need something meaningful to talk about. But when you do, it's easier to engage people and after that you have plenty of time to talk properly about whatever aspect of the product you want.

Some of the imagery is fairly graphic – did you have to tone anything down?

We did a lot of make up tests before the shoot and it helped us to find out how bloody we should go. But sometimes what you see is not what you get in-camera so we had to push further and also bring it down, depending on the situation or framing. In particular, we had to tone down the ballerina's feet a little bit for the close-ups and make them bloodier when shooting the wider dancing shots.

How much fake blood did you get through?

To be honest, they probably got through much more in Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead!

What was the most challenging aspect of the process?

The weather got quite tricky during the shoot. We had a big snow storm in the mountains, the roads were closed, so we had to change the mountain bike location at the last minute and  
adapt shooting of the climbing and Joan of Arc scenes. Although challenging to the crew and the actresses, the cold and the snow added an extra layer of drama and beauty to scenes.
The Joan of Arc scene ended up much more cinematic than we'd first imagined. 

And the most rewarding?

The whole process of making it was rewarding. We established a great relationship with the creative team Caio [Giannella] and Diego [Oliveira], the client was on board and we got all the support we needed from Stink to take the film in the direction we believed. We started planning to shoot in Montevideo, then Lisbon, Kiev and we ended up finding the perfect place: Romania. 

Also, when you don't need a director's cut at the end of a project, it says a lot about how enjoyable the process of making it was.